Don’t Feed the Dinosaurs!

We’d finally arrived in the Exumas and had declared a play day, so after a leisurely morning on the boat, we dinghied over to Southwest Allans Cay to check out the Allans Cay Rock Iguanas, which, if you ask me, look pretty much like tiny little dinosaurs. Actually, some of them aren’t quite so tiny, and they may or may not have freaked me out a little bit at first…

These lizards can grow to weigh almost 25 pounds and live as long as (or longer than!) humans

As we pulled ashore in the dinghy, the iguanas literally started crawling out of the bushes towards us. I had no choice but to jump out into knee deep water and pull the dinghy the last few feet to shore, as this is one of my very important jobs when we travel via dinghy. 😉 On the big boat, driving and maneuvering is my job, while Jim handles securing us once we arrive (anchoring, grabbing a mooring or tying to a dock), but our roles are reversed in the dinghy.

A few members of our welcoming partyAnd a few smaller ones

But I digress. The little dudes now just stood around checking us out and would sometimes walk slowly toward us, but sensing that we had no food for them, most either just stood there or slowly retreated back into the bushes. Until, that is, I picked up a little piece of fruit that was laying on the ground and tossed it toward one of the mini dinos. Wow! No way I’d ever bring food and actually try to feed these guys and I would strongly discourage everyone else from doing it as well. Several of the iguanas ran towards the fruit and became quite aggressive! I’d be worried about losing a finger, and I’ve heard that it has happened.

Pretty cool looking little creatures actuallyDon’t you just love the spikes running down their backs?

This picture of them laying down just makes me laugh!Really very interesting looking animals and we spent a lot of time on the island watching them

And now for your viewing pleasure…..and yes, I know these iguanas aren’t at all related to dinosaurs, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!

Theses iguanas are actually an endangered species found only in the Exumas and are part of a long-term study. People are asked NOT to feed them since this could alter their natural behavior and possibly harm them. Pets are also not allowed on this island for obvious reasons. Apparently, however, there are still some folks who enjoy the occasional lizard on the BBQ, and as such they are sometimes poached for their meat. Blows my mind, but I guess it happens. What do you think…would you guys eat an iguana if they weren’t endangered?